New Delhi: Chhattisgarh Police said Thursday it has recovered the bodies of at least 30 suspected Maoists from Bastar, where two different operations were taking place simultaneously.
Police officials said the bodies of 26 suspected Maoists were recovered in the ongoing encounter in the area between Bijapur and Dantewada districts in the south Bastar region.
Separately, security forces also recovered the bodies of at least four suspected Maoists from the border area of Narayanpur and Kanker districts in the north Bastar region.
“The identification of those neutralised in today’s ops is yet to be done. It will begin only after the exchange of fire stops completely and our troops come back to the base,” a senior officer in Chhattisgarh Police told ThePrint.
One jawan of the state police’s specialised District Reserve Guards (DRG) was killed in the intermittent exchange of fire going on since 7 am today in Bijapur, officials further said.
Thursday’s operations deep in the forest under Gangaloor police station come as the state police, in the company of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), have gone on an offensive against the Communist Party of India (Maoist) cadres.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has set a deadline of March 2026 to eradicate Maoism from the country.
Sources in Chhattisgarh Police said that the toll on the Maoist side could be higher.
Officials in Bastar Police range said that a joint team of DRG and Special Task Force began a search operation in the forest area in the border areas of Narayanpur and Kanker in north Bastar region after receiving intelligence inputs about the presence of senior Maoist cadres.
Maoist cadres triggered an IED blast around 3 am, but forces made their way into the area where the four suspected Maoists were killed in the exchange of fire.
The simultaneous operations Thursday took the toll of suspected Maoist cadres killed so far this year to over 100. Earlier last month, security forces in Bijapur killed 31 suspected Maoists in the area near the Indravati National Park area, which used to be considered a launching pad for Maoist cadres.
This is an updated version of the report
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
Excellent news indeed.
Every single Naxalite must be exterminated.